Climate Response to Negative Greenhouse Gas Radiative Forcing in Polar Winter
Abstract
Abstract Greenhouse gas (GHG) additions to Earth's atmosphere initially reduce global outgoing longwave radiation, thereby warming the planet. In select environments with temperature inversions, however, increased GHG concentrations can actually increase local outgoing longwave radiation. Negative top of atmosphere and effective radiative forcing (ERF) from this situation give the impression that local surface temperatures could cool in response to GHG increases. Here we consider an extreme scenario in which GHG concentrations are increased only within the warmest layers of winter near‐surface inversions of the Arctic and Antarctic. We find, using a fully coupled Earth system model, that the underlying surface warms despite the GHG addition exerting negative ERF and cooling the troposphere in the vicinity of the GHG increase. This unique radiative forcing and thermal response is facilitated by the high stability of the polar winter atmosphere, which inhibit thermal mixing and amplify the impact of surface radiative forcing on surface temperature. These findings also suggest that strategies to exploit negative ERF via injections of short‐lived GHGs into inversion layers would likely be unsuccessful in cooling the planetary surface.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[1];
[1];
[2]
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble (France)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1537312
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1426350
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0012969
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 45; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 0094-8276
- Publisher:
- American Geophysical Union
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Geology
Citation Formats
Flanner, M. G., Huang, X., Chen, X., and Krinner, G. Climate Response to Negative Greenhouse Gas Radiative Forcing in Polar Winter. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1002/2017gl076668.
Flanner, M. G., Huang, X., Chen, X., & Krinner, G. Climate Response to Negative Greenhouse Gas Radiative Forcing in Polar Winter. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017gl076668
Flanner, M. G., Huang, X., Chen, X., and Krinner, G. Mon .
"Climate Response to Negative Greenhouse Gas Radiative Forcing in Polar Winter". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017gl076668. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1537312.
@article{osti_1537312,
title = {Climate Response to Negative Greenhouse Gas Radiative Forcing in Polar Winter},
author = {Flanner, M. G. and Huang, X. and Chen, X. and Krinner, G.},
abstractNote = {Abstract Greenhouse gas (GHG) additions to Earth's atmosphere initially reduce global outgoing longwave radiation, thereby warming the planet. In select environments with temperature inversions, however, increased GHG concentrations can actually increase local outgoing longwave radiation. Negative top of atmosphere and effective radiative forcing (ERF) from this situation give the impression that local surface temperatures could cool in response to GHG increases. Here we consider an extreme scenario in which GHG concentrations are increased only within the warmest layers of winter near‐surface inversions of the Arctic and Antarctic. We find, using a fully coupled Earth system model, that the underlying surface warms despite the GHG addition exerting negative ERF and cooling the troposphere in the vicinity of the GHG increase. This unique radiative forcing and thermal response is facilitated by the high stability of the polar winter atmosphere, which inhibit thermal mixing and amplify the impact of surface radiative forcing on surface temperature. These findings also suggest that strategies to exploit negative ERF via injections of short‐lived GHGs into inversion layers would likely be unsuccessful in cooling the planetary surface.},
doi = {10.1002/2017gl076668},
journal = {Geophysical Research Letters},
number = 4,
volume = 45,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Feb 12 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Unmasking the negative greenhouse effect over the Antarctic Plateau
journal, July 2018
- Sejas, Sergio A.; Taylor, Patrick C.; Cai, Ming
- npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, Vol. 1, Issue 1